Lawson, Henry

▪ Australian writer

in full  Henry Archibald Lawson 

born June 17, 1867, near Grenfell, N.S.W., Australia

died Sept. 22, 1922, Abbotsford, N.S.W.

      Australian writer of short stories and balladlike verse noted for his realistic portrayals of bush life.

      He was the son of a former Norwegian sailor and an active feminist. Hampered by deafness from the time he was nine and by the poverty and unhappiness in his family, he left school at 14 to help his father as a builder. About 1884 he moved to Sydney, where the Bulletin published his first stories and verses (1887–88). During those years he worked for several newspapers but also spent much time wandering. Out of these experiences came material for his vivid, realistic writing, which, by its often pessimistic blend of pathos and irony, captured some of the spirit of Australian working life. His later years were increasingly unhappy, and the quality of his writing deteriorated.

      Lawson's principal works are collections of poems or stories and include: In the Days When the World Was Wide and Other Verses (1896); While the Billy Boils (1896); On the Track and over the Sliprails (1900); Joe Wilson and His Mates (1901); Children of the Bush (1902); and Triangles of Life and Other Stories (1913).

Additional Reading

Denton Prout, Henry Lawson, The Grey Dreamer (1963); Manning Clark, In Search of Henry Lawson (1978); Xavier Pons, Out of Eden: Henry Lawson's Life and Works (1984); Colin Roderick, Henry Lawson: A Life (1991).

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